Chris Goodnow receives GSK Award for pioneering autoimmune research

There are dozens of autoimmune diseases, from the well known multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes through to the lesser known systemic lupus and Sjogren's syndrome.

And Professor Chris Goodnow, from the Australian National University, has a theory as to how they come about.

He now has the chance to test this theory thanks to the $80,000 GlaxoSmithKline Award for Research Excellence, which he received in a ceremony last night.

He was awarded the prize as a result of his three decades of work contributing to our understanding of the immune system and how autoimmune diseases develop, and will use the funds to contribute to testing his latest theory.

Goodnow’s theory is that autoimmune diseases are effectively a form of lymphoma, a cancer that affects lymphocytes, a key component of our immune system.

“We’ve based our hypothesis on lots of circumstantial evidence, and now a path has opened that will allow us to see whether the genetic mutations that have recently been found to cause lymphoma also hasten the development of autoimmune disease,” said Goodnow.

“If we find this, it could open up opportunities in the future for treatments for autoimmune diseases, which may include using the new drugs developed for treating lymphoma cancers.”

Goodnow will put the award money towards using massively parallel sequencing to gain a deeper understanding of underlying cause of autoimmune diseases.

“Without the grant from this award, the process to apply for funding to use the massively parallel sequencing technology would potentially halt our research for years, delaying our understanding of autoimmune diseases and discovery of new treatments.

“It’s a high risk and high returns approach – testing a theory for autoimmune disease that’s somewhat controversial. Some people really love it, but some people really hate it. That’s a good sign; no one finds it boring,” Goodnow said.